We live in a world of catchy frameworks and methods. Companies want to be agile, they want to be effective, they are looking for modern management methods. They train, implement, improve… In this rush, understanding goals and “heading towards the same goal” takes on new meaning. We often experience chaos, disorder and unpredictability, which causes frustration and fuels conflicts.
Then it is worth having a broader perspective, flying higher and seeing more. So imagine that you can look at the organization from the heights at which planes fly. You clearly see how information flows, how dependencies and connections look like and how conflicts are resolved in the company. You don’t see the future – you see the present.
This is where the Flight Levels concept comes in handy. This is not a new framework or method. Flight Levels gives us a picture of the current situation, making communication easier. The concept not only clarifies who is responsible for what, but also helps mitigate conflicts, for example when different teams clash over resource allocation or priorities.
Let’s take a closer look at how flight levels help build better communication and smoother conflict resolution in companies.
Understand the concept of Flight Levels
The concept of Flight Levels, introduced by Klaus Leopold, draws an analogy between organizational structures and the altitudes at which aircraft operate. Just as airplanes fly at different altitudes to avoid collisions and ensure smooth navigation, companies operate at different “flight levels” with different responsibilities and decision-making powers.
Flight Level 1 (FL1): The lowest altitude of FL1 contains frontline teams and individual employees who are directly involved in performing tasks and delivering products or services. These teams focus on operational tasks and perform their work using various methods. However, we must remember that there are always dependencies between teams. And this brings us to:
Flight Level 2 (FL2): Located above FL1, FL2 involves coordinating the efforts of multiple teams, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and the value stream view. FL2 acts as a bridge between frontline teams and top management.
Flight Level 3 (FL3): At the highest altitude we have FL3, which most often corresponds to senior management, whose role is to determine the overall direction of the company, make high-level strategic decisions, and oversee the performance of the entire organization.
Benefits of using Flight Levels
1. Clear communication channels
The Flight Levels concept allows you to see your company’s problems and opportunities from different heights. This ensures clarity of responsibilities within the organization. This transparency promotes better communication channels because team members know who to turn to when they have specific issues or decisions.
2. Better decision making
Each flight level is empowered to make decisions within a designated scope, reducing bottlenecks and speeding up the decision-making process. Decisions made at lower levels of the flight can be escalated upwards as needed, ensuring alignment with the organization’s overarching goals.
3. Better cooperation
The Flight Levels concept encourages cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing. Teams at different flight levels are encouraged to interact and share information, leveraging collective expertise to address challenges and seize opportunities.
4. Conflict management
A clear flow of information, visibility of dependencies, transparency, focus on designated areas of responsibility, regular measurement of progress – all this facilitates communication and, consequently, management of conflict situations.
5. Agility and adaptability
The Flight Levels concept encourages organizational agility, enabling frontline teams to make quick decisions in response to changing circumstances. This flexibility enables companies to quickly adapt to market dynamics and take advantage of emerging opportunities.
Start with what you have
We often try to improve the efficiency of our teams by introducing modern working methods. However, by improving only individual elements of the organization, we create bottlenecks. It is worth starting by mapping the current structure and information flow channels. In this way, we can cover all value streams, from strategy to implementation, and fill the often large gaps that form in each value stream between different decision-making and implementation activities.
The Flight Levels concept proposes an interesting approach to building better communication channels and improving decision-making processes, regardless of specific methodologies. We start with what we already have and focus on improving communication. In addition, we have the freedom to use methods and techniques – this is the basis for success.
